Technical Difficulties
by Griever11
Summary: 'You work at the phone store and I keep purposely messing up settings on my phone so I can come in and talk to you AU' - Prompt fill. AU of Castle and Beckett meeting for the first time, a story told in five parts. Completed in time for #CastleFanficMonday
1. Chapter 1

Prompt:

You work at the phone store and I keep purposely messing up settings on my phone so I can come in and talk to you AU

Part 1 / 5

00000

A doorbell chimes and startled, he looks up from his book on the merits of online dating and scans the store for the source of the noise. His eyes travel and lands on the most beautiful woman he's ever seen in his life. She looks a little agitated, fingers of one hand clutched tightly around her phone, as she taps furiously at the screen with her other hand. He notices that she's drenched, her long brunette hair hanging down past her shoulders, dripping water onto the shoulders of a particularly expensive looking coat.

She looks up from the phone and her eyes meet his from across the room. Oh god, she's gorgeous. Tall and lithe, legs that went on for miles, and her face … Castle swallows as he blinks, not believing she's actually walking towards him. _Him_. Oh crap, he glances quickly into the back room, hoping Eddy comes out of wherever he was so he -

"Excuse me, I need your help," the woman says as she leans against the glass counter.

Castle turns back to look at her and clears his throat.

Should he tell her he doesn't _actually_ work at the store? That he's only waiting for Eddy to finish up in the back so they could close up early and go to Esposito's birthday party? That he really shouldn't be standing behind the counter at all, but he'd been so annoyed at the lack of seating in the store that he didn't think it would matter if he sat behind the counter anyway since he thought no one would possibly come in at such a late hour.

"Um, hello? Are you deaf?"

Castle snaps out of his slight panic and grins nervously at her. "No – no not deaf, just… caught me by surprise is all. No one has come into the store for the past half an hour."

She's looking at him weirdly, eyebrows cocked in disbelief. Her eyes drift to the title of the book he's been reading before she entered and then back up at him. "RIght," she says as if she's silently judging his choice of literature. It looks like she's about to make a comment, but then decides against it. "Look, I'm late and I need to get this working again."

She shows him her phone, taps at the screen and frowns when nothing happens. "Nothing happens – as you can see. And I need it to work, it's an emergency. I got a call from dispatch and it cut out suddenly, and now nothing is working. I need an address and I could go back to the precinct but –"

"- the _precinct_?" He gasps in excitement. "You're a cop? That is so cool! You don't look like a cop – no offence but … you … don't care."

She's glaring at him heatedly, clearly not amused. "Can you fix it or not?"

He takes the phone from her and starts to play around with it. He doesn't work in the store but he's still pretty good with technology and maybe he'll be able to fix her phone and possibly earn her eternal gratitude. He grins widely at her as he continues prodding at her phone.

"Sometimes phones are fiddly when they come into contact with water," he says. He's making it up as he goes, but it's not entirely a lie. She's drenched and he's almost a hundred percent sure she would have taken that call from dispatch as she was walking about in the rain.

"Yeah, that was my fault," she looks dejectedly at the phone. "Can you save it? Maybe dry it out or something?"

Her voice is music to his ears, even when it's laced with annoyance and impatience. He stares at her for a beat, taking in the sharp features of her face, the angles that he will remember forever. She's inspiring him and she doesn't even know it. His fingers are itching to go home and immortalise her with words, to describe how the lighting in the store perfectly accentuates her jawline, the stretch of her neck … But his inspiration is currently glaring at him again and he hastily looks back down at her phone.

"Uh, look. We could probably take it apart and try to have a look but because I'm in a nice mood -," he winks at her, but he only gets another annoyed look from her in return. "- I'll give you this nifty tip. Take it home and bury it in a tub of rice. It'll dry the thing right up and if it wasn't exposed to the water for too long, it should be as good as new after a good twelve hours or so."

She looks sceptical at his suggestion, but takes her phone back from him anyway. "And you're sure about this?"

Castle nods. "Sure, I'm sure. And if it doesn't, you can bring it back here tomorrow and we'll go from there? In the meantime though, you can use the store's phone to get that address you want. It's not a problem. No charge!"

This time she actually smiles, and he's once again entranced by how she beautiful she is. He pushes the store's phone towards her across the counter and gestures for her to use it.

He backs away from the counter, giving her privacy in case she wants it. He hears snippets of the conversation, even managing to catch her name when she introduces herself to whoever it was on the other line.

Detective Beckett.

Beckett. It's a strong name, no nonsense. He whispers it, testing out how it rolls off his tongue. He decides he likes the name. Now all he needs a first name.

"Oi, Castle, what the hell are you – oh, hello Miss!"

Eddy emerges from the back, his jacket in hand and the keys to the store swinging from his fingers. Eddy narrows his eyebrows suspiciously at Castle, tipping his chin questioningly at the Detective who's pushing back the store's phone towards the men behind the counter.

"I'm sorry, were you closed?" Beckett directs the question to Castle when she sees that Eddy's actually about to leave, but then shakes her head. "It doesn't matter, I've gotta go anyway. Thanks so much for your help. And for letting me use the phone."

"Anything for one of New York's finest," Castle says, giving her his most charming – or so he thinks – smile.

She blushes, but then rolls her eyes at him. Okay, so maybe she's been on the receiving end of one too many lines like that one. He'll need to work on that then. Eddy coughs loudly behind him and Beckett turns to him, only just noticing that they weren't alone anymore.

"Thanks again," Beckett says as nods at Eddy. She grabs her unresponsive phone and starts towards the entrance. "Oh," She turns back at the two men. She points at Castle's book, lying forgotten on the counter. "I hope you reading that doesn't mean you're completely against offline dating. 'Cause that would be a damn shame."

Castle looks back down at his book and then back up at her gaping, just in time to catch her winking at him. She actually _winks_ at him! And then before he's managed to collect himself, she's waving at them both, her fingers fluttering adorably at them before the door slams shut and Castle's left staring at her back through the glass doors, disappearing into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

It's only been two hours since he met her, but Castle finds himself barely able to contain the words threatening to spill from the depths of his literary soul. He wants to write about her, the mysterious detective with the sad eyes. He wants to fill pages and pages with speculation about her life, her job, her favourite food, favourite colour. He regrets not asking for her first name, but he's already got a list of possibilities in his head anyway.

He's never been so inspired, not since Kyra left and his heartache fuelled the late nights of coffee and typing. This time though, instead of heartache, his fingers are thrumming with curiosity and intrigue. The woman – Detective Something Beckett – is special and he wants to know _everything_ about her. He's not sure why she's made such an impression on him but he needs to find her again, sit down and have a chat with her. She's beautiful, but it isn't just that. She's also a cop, and women like her don't end up in her line of work. There's a story there and he's yearning to know it.

He excuses himself from the party early, feeling a little left out anyway. He's here out of courtesy, celebrating the birthday of one of Eddy's best friends from the time he was in the Special Forces. He knows Esposito, whose birthday it is, but not well enough to participate in the raucous laughter and in-jokes currently being traded among the other ex-Special Forces guests there. He's itching to write, wants to grab a pen and wax poetic about the rain-soaked woman with the broken smile and so he tells Eddy goodbye, wishes a slightly tipsy Esposito goodnight and heads off into the night with her face haunting his thoughts all the way home.

He bursts into Eddy's late the next day, pushing past the staff member about to greet him at the door. He makes his way to the counter and slams his fist on the bell repeatedly, eventually bringing Eddy hurrying out to the front cursing.

"I need you to fix my laptop."

"Well, hi to you too, buddy," Eddy mutters sarcastically. "My night went really well after you left, thanks for asking!"

Castle huffs impatiently and pulls his laptop out of the messenger bag slung around his shoulders. "I was writing and accidentally spilled coffee all over the keyboard. Now it won't turn on and you really need to fix this for me. I've got … I wrote a lot. I haven't written this much in a _really_ long time."

Eddy stares at Castle for a few seconds, taking in his friend's desperation and finally examines the laptop. He pushes a few keys and when nothing happens, he sighs and shuts the lid. "Okay, sure. I'll do my best. Give me a minute, I'll pass this along to our techs." He disappears again round the back, instructing one of his floor staff to keep a vigilant eye on few remaining customers still loitering around the almost empty store.

Castle hopes his laptop gets fixed. He'd already called his publisher and his agent to tell them he's finally ending his two year draught. He'll never hear the end of it if he has to take his words back. The bell at the entrance of the store jingles loudly and Castle drags his eyes away from the game two boys are playing on the TV screen and his heart stutters.

It's her.

_Her_ her.

Their eyes meet, hers brightening up when she sees him and the smile that graces her features is breath taking. She saunters up to him – because that's the only word that can appropriately describe the way she walks as she approaches, hips swaying tantalizingly at him.

"So we meet again," he drawls, instantly cringing at how cliché the line is and backtracks. "I mean, hello. Nice to see you again."

She purses her lips and lifts her eyebrows but eventually decides to let it go. Her hand disappears into her pocket and fishes her phone out. "You too. I never got your name last time, I'm Kate," she says.

Kate. Detective Kate Beckett.

Oh, he really likes her name. He straightens up, pushing off the counter to stand at his full height. "Rick. Rick Castle," he tells her. He nods towards the phone in her hand. "Does your phone still not turn on?"

He really shouldn't be doing this again, pretending he works here, but she's talking to him and he in turn _really_, really wants to talk to her – what's the harm anyway? Castle turns around but Eddy is nowhere to be seen.

He's safe, for now.

"Well – it turns on. The rice thing worked, as ridiculous as it sounded," she mouth tilts upwards in a small smile. "But it seems all my contacts have disappeared," she tells him as she hands over her phone.

Castle pulls up the contacts app and flicks through it and sure enough she's got nothing stored in her phonebook.

"Have you checked the settings yet?" he asks as he hits the icon on the top right hand corner of the screen. He lifts his gaze from the phone, silently seeking her permission to keep going.

She nods. "Go right ahead, I mean if it's not anything too difficult."

"Castle, please stop messing with things you shouldn't be messing with," a voice calls out from behind them. Castle looks up and around guiltily, missing the confusion that flits across the detective's face.

Eddy reappears, taking his rightful place at the counter. He takes the phone out of Castle's hands with a withering look. "And give me that, you take this. The hard drive has been cloned and backed up so whatever you were working on is still on this, but you'll need a new laptop."

Castle takes the hard drive from Eddy and slips it into the messenger bag he's left on the counter. He notices the detective tracking his moves.

"Did using all those online dating tips from the book you were reading yesterday break your laptop?" She asks with a smirk. Oh, she's snarky, this one. He opens his mouth to respond, but suddenly, she points a finger at his face, effectively silencing him.

"Hang on, why did he need to fix it for you? Don't you –," she doesn't finish her sentence as she starts putting two and two together. He sees the moment it dawns upon her and the slight furrowing of her brow tells him his charade is up.

"You don't work here," she murmurs. Her eyes narrow into slits, she leans in towards him and her voice gets louder. "You were lying to me."

"Okay, look. I didn't mean to, but I … you needed help and Eddy wasn't here, and I helped you didn't I? Your phone turns on now!" He says as he grins nervously at her. The only reaction he gets is a stern glare from her.

"You _do_ realise you lied to a cop? You thought that was a good idea?"

Castle's not sure if she's actually angry. She's glaring at him, sure, but he can see a hint of a smirk in her face, the corners of her lips slightly upturned in what could only be a smile. It's as if she's daring him to answer her.

Eddy clears his throat from behind them, saving Castle from coming up with an explanation.

She turns to Eddy and Castle watches in silence as he hands her the phone. "Well, it looks like your contacts were saved on the phone's SD card instead of the internal memory, and your settings were set to pull the numbers from the internal memory. I've fixed all that up for you now," Eddy says.

She flicks through her contacts, scrolling through them to make sure. "Oh, thank you so much," she tells Eddy. She looks back down at the screen and Castle notices that she frowns at it for a beat, before looking back up. "Actually, one number's still missing…"

Eddy's about to pull the phone out of her hands again, but she cuts him off and holds out her phone to Castle instead. Her frown's transformed into a toothy grin, and it's dazzling.

"I still don't have yours."


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for the great feedback/follows etc. It's very much appreciated. Apologies for the delay in posting this instalment up.

He's moping.

He's moping like a little child and it's all _her_ fault. It's been a whole week since he so carefully punched out his details into her phone, checking, double checking and triple checking that he's got the number right. When he handed the phone back to her, all he got in reply was a playful smirk and a '_See ya later'_ before she disappeared out of the store and into the hustle and bustle of New York City.

A whole seven days has passed since then and he hasn't heard anything from her. He wants to hit his head repeatedly against a wall most days when he realises he's acting like a love sick teenager but he really can't help it. He's Google searched her and found out she's some sort of hot shot Detective with the 12th precinct with the highest case closure rate in the last two years. So she's got beauty _and_ brains. He's even gone and looked up the number of the 12th precinct but every time he picks up the phone to call the precinct, he chickens out.

_Coward_.

So here he is a week later, staring into an almost empty coffee cup, about to give up on ever seeing the enigma that was Kate Beckett ever again. Maybe she came to her senses. Maybe she found out who he was, looked up all the articles on Page Six about his (overly exaggerated) philandering, playboy lifestyle and decided she doesn't want to waste her time on him.

It's quite likely, he supposes. And he's only got himself to blame. He readily agrees to whatever his publicist sets up for him, a different girl on each arm for every event, not minding the publicity at all – not when it means he'll be able to get generate some talk about his books. He's no saint, definitely not, but his dalliances with the fairer sex are actually way fewer and far between what the papers suggest.

He groans into his coffee, picking it up and downing the rest of it quickly. He needs to get out of this funk. He needs to start writing again. He's got so many pages written about her, paragraphs and paragraphs of words that came so easily to him after their first two meetings. He was on such a roll before and now he's stuck. He can't keep making things up about her, not when he's so desperate to know the real her. He wants to know more, wants to delve deep into her story –

It's ringing.

His phone is actually ringing.

The screen lights up, the words 'Unknown Caller' flashing enticingly at him. He knows it could be anyone. He knows that it's silly to automatically assume it's _her_ – especially since it's been so long, but he dares to hope anyway. He slides his finger across the screen and brings his phone to his ear.

"Hello, this is Rick."

The voice that comes through the other end of the speaker is music to his ears and sends his heart into overdrive.

"Um, hi, Rick. It's Beckett. Kate. Kate Beckett," she stumbles over her greeting and he finds it adorable. "From the … um store?"

He doesn't need the reminder. He's grinning so widely his cheeks hurt. His heart's beating erratically beneath his chest and he tries his best to stay calm as he speaks to her. "Sure, Kate. Hi, what can I do for you?"

"I know this is pretty out of the blue," she starts. "But I was hoping if you could help me out."

_If_ he'll help her out? Dear lord, even if she wanted his help to kidnap the Prime Minister of Timbuktu, he'd do it in a heartbeat. He schools his excitement, hoping his voice doesn't betray the crazy cartwheels his heart is doing underneath his shirt. "I'll do my best, Detective. I'll do my very best. What can I help you with?"

"Okay, great. So my annoying little phone – the same one, it's been refitted and upgraded with the latest law enforcement type applications. Over the air BOLO requests, DNA and fingerprint matching type things – I won't bore you with the specifics. Only problem is I think these apps are kinda messing up the rest of my phone? Nothing else works, I can call and text but no other applications are working."

Castle takes in the information, slightly puzzled and a little disappointed. Did she only want help with her phone? His previous excitement dies a little, reality crashing down on him as he realises that maybe she _did_ only just call to ask for help with her phone.

"Y'know I don't actually work with Eddy, right?" He says a little tersely and almost immediately cringes at his own tone. She didn't deserve that. He clears his throat and backpedals. "I mean, I'm happy to help, but Eddy and his boys are the professionals when it comes to these sort of things."

He hears her chuckle and despite his disappointment, he's smiling at the sound. She really did have a lovely voice.

"Sure, I know Eddy's the professional. But it's _your_ number that's in my phone and you don't seem completely clueless when it comes to this sort of thing. Thought I'd come to you first, maybe you'll have some magic rice fix for me again. Save me the travel time."

"I guess I should be honoured then, Detective. Being the first one you call in such dire times," he's teasing her, and it elicits a tinkle of laughter from her. He's a goner. He's not sure if she's flirting with him, not sure if she's just being nice, for all he knows she's really just after some tech advice – but he's damn well going to try to see if he can meet her again.

"So you'll help me?"

"Anything for you, Detective Kate Beckett," he makes it a point to say her full name, wants her to know that he really remembers her, every single thing about her. He's probably laying it on a little thick, but he'll do anything to see her again. "I'll need to actually work with the phone though. Can't do anything without seeing it in front of me."

"That's fine. I can meet you this afternoon? Maybe around three? There's a café near the precinct that does really good coffee," she hesitates for a beat and then clears her throat. "If you're not busy, that is."

Castle blinks dumbly into space, letting her words sink in.

_Coffee_? Wait.

Did she just –

"Um, Rick? You there?" Concern laces her voice this time and Castle shakes himself out of his reverie.

"I'm here, I'm here. No, yes, I mean no, I'm not busy. Coffee sounds good. Sounds … precinct. I mean, perfect. Sounds perfect," he finally manages.

_Idiot_. You stupid idiot. He mentally berates himself for being such a moron. He sounds like an inexperienced teenager and completely and utterly stupid.

He hears her laugh again on the other end, undoubtedly amused at his inability to be cool. He expects her to call him out on it, maybe torment him a little longer – but he's wrong. She pretends he's said nothing out of the ordinary, although there's a hint of mirth and a slight lilt in her voice when she speaks next.

"Okay then, Rick. I'll see you at three. Café's just around the corner of the twelfth precinct. See you soon!"

He barely gets a chance to wish her a good bye and she hangs up, the steady dial tone ringing in his ear before he can register that she's no longer on the other end. Castle stares at the phone in his hand, a little bewildered at the entire exchange.

He's able to reflect on their conversation, able to sift through the bizarreness slowly and logically now that she's no longer taunting him with her sultry voice. He swears she's flirting with him – she'd asked for his number after all – but then she doesn't call him for a week and when she does it's for tech help?

Kate Beckett is such a mystery.

He grins at the thought.

He absolutely _loves_ mysteries.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the delay in uploading this part. Thank you so much for the follows and reviews, guys. I am indebted to you.

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He can barely contain his excitement when he steps out of the cab. He doesn't even remember how much money he shoves into the cabbie's outstretched hand, but honestly, he has better things on his mind. He takes note of the bold lettering above the entrance of the 12th precinct and casts his gaze around, looking for the cafe Kate had referred to.

Oh.

Castle purses his lips as he realises he's in a little bit of a conundrum. There are two cafes and both can very well fall within the definition of 'around the corner' of the 12th, as she'd described. He's about to pull out his phone when he spots her.

Detective Kate Beckett steps out of the precinct, tugging her coat tighter around her body. Her hair is in a tight ponytail, sleek and formal. She's in ridiculously high heels, but she's surefooted as she strides through the throng of people milling about. She hasn't spotted him and Castle scurries after her, eager and enthusiastic. He earns a couple of angry glares from the other people he bumps into as he hurries to catch up to her.

"Kate, hey!" He calls out and stumbles ungracefully in front of her when she stops and turns around.

She's a little startled, but the corners of her eyes crinkles in delight when she sees him. "Did you ... run here?" She asks, taking in his breathlessness. "You know, it would have been okay if you were a little late."

Castle straightens his sports jacket and clears his throat, calming himself down. He falls into step with her as they navigate through the other pedestrians. "I just uh. Wasn't sure which cafe you were talking about. There seems to be two here. So I followed you."

She chuckles in amusement as she leads him to the right one. She pushes the doors to the café open and steps aside, letting him walk past her. "Ladies first," she murmurs, winking at him. He pretends to look offended for a second, but the smirks anyway as he walks in.

They make their way to the counter and order their coffees, Castle taking note of her rather fancy, elaborate choice (skim latte, two pumps sugar free vanilla?). They don't wait for long and soon enough, they find themselves seated in a cosy booth in the corner of the café.

She's positively radiant, and the way the afternoon sun glances off her skin mesmerises him. He's bursting with questions, feels like the words are about to spill from the tip of his tongue. He's itching to know her, this gorgeous detective who looks like she doesn't quite belong in her current profession but carries herself with such confidence that he's sure she's the best person for the job.

"So, phone problems?"

Castle wants to kick himself. Of all the questions he wants to ask her (is Kate short for Katherine or Caitlin? How did you become a cop? Are the murders you work really gruesome? How do you walk in those heels?) of all these questions, he asks her _that_? He's such an idiot. A true failure as a writer.

Kate looks a little surprised herself, but she schools her features almost instantly and fishes her phone out of her coat pocket. "Um, yeah, here you go. It's just – you'll see."

Her fingers brush against his as she passes him her phone. The contact sends electricity down his digits, through his soul, he thinks. He has to forcibly tear his gaze away from her face to look down at it as he thumbs the standby button to turn the phone on.

"So, solve any murders today?" He asks casually, mentally congratulating himself on not making a further fool of himself with his words. "Lock up any psychopathic killers, keeping the streets of New York safer for mere mortals like me?"

She chuckles good naturedly at him and takes a sip of her coffee before answering him. "A body dropped at Drake's Magic Shop this morning, if that counts for anything," she tells him, a sparkle in her eye. "In Houdini's water tank!"

Castle's eyes widen in excitement, his jaw dropping. "No way! I used to go there all the time when I was younger!"

"Yeah, my grandfather used to take me too. I loved it there," she says. "Anyway, that's still ongoing so I can't really say much about it. But we're waiting on more information from our ME and CSU at the moment so we can't do much until then."

"I think it's so amazing that you're a cop," Castle prods at her phone haphazardly, not really knowing what to look for. He glances up at her, but Kate doesn't seem to mind that he's pawing through her phone. In fact, she doesn't look like she cares what he's doing at all. Kate's sipping her coffee casually, occasionally glancing out the café's wide windows at the people walking past on the sidewalk.

They make small talk as he opens and shuts the applications on her phone. She talks about a baseball game she went to over the weekend (he'll need to brush up on the sport, Castle notes), about the shortage of stationery at the precinct, about one of her partners proposing to his girlfriend right in front of her the week before.

Castle takes it all in, files away the little titbits of her life like they're pieces of a puzzle that he wants to put together eventually. He absorbs the cadence of her voice, memorises the way she speaks, clear and sharp (She's well-read too. She's got a big vocabulary, and that's just _so hot_) – he wants to know _everything_ about her. She's not really giving up anything important about herself, though. She's so careful when she speaks, revealing just enough but not really giving anything at all.

He takes his turn too. He tells her about Alexis, about not wanting her to grow up. Tells her about his mother and her penchant for drama. He briefly contemplates telling her about how she's inspiring him, making him more productive than he has been in years, but he doesn't. He's not sure how she'll take knowing he's writing about her, or rather, the idea of her. He'll admit it's a little creepy.

Eventually they fall into a comfortable silence and it dawns upon him that this really, really feels like ...

... a date?

Oh, does he dare get his hopes up? He swallows the lump in his throat and goes for it.

"Kate?"

"Hmm?" She murmurs, turning back from the window to look at him, arching an eyebrow quizzically when she notices he's done absolutely nothing with her phone except pull up her Candy Crush Saga app. "Were you planning on beating my high score?"

"Oh, what – oh, no," Castle says, flustered. "I just... I can't help but feel like this is... uh, did you call me... for a date?"

She smiles at him impishly but shakes her head. "I called you for tech support, Rick," she denies easily. The twinkle in her eye suggests otherwise though, and Castle feels a little off balance at her reaction.

_He's _supposed to be the smooth one, he's never had a problem with women. He's charming and polite, two traits he knows for sure that can win the hearts of many. He's used to the art of seduction and it's usually effortless for him. He knows the words to say, the right moves to make – and yet with Kate Beckett he's reduced to a stammering, blundering idiot.

"Oh, right."

"I'm assuming you can't fix it then?" Kate asks, tugging her phone gently out of his hand. He relinquishes it voluntarily and shrugs.

"Way out of my realm of expertise this time, unfortunately," he admits to her. "But since we're already here, and you haven't finished your coffee, we can use the time to uh … get to know each other a little better?"

Oh wow, he's really, really, off his game. _Get to know each other better?_ Worst line, ever. She's probably dying on the inside, probably going to down the rest of her coffee so she can get out of there as fast as she can. She's probably hears lines like that every day, better lines. Lines more deserving of her beauty –

"Beckett? Castle?"

A familiar voice calls out from behind him, startling him and he turns around and realises it belongs to Esposito, Eddy's friend from the Special Forces whose birthday party he attended. He hears Kate mutter _'Castle?'_ underneath her breath, but he doesn't get a chance to see if his last name means anything to her. Esposito looks confused for a second, but then a boyish grin breaks out over his face and Castle suddenly feels very, very wary.

Wait.

Did Esposito just say say '_Beckett'? _Do they work together?

"Oh, Beckett are you on a date?" Esposito drawls, winking at Castle. "Is that why you took off so quickly before? Cause you had a hot date?" He punctuates his sentence with an emphasis on the 't', grinning at them. Kate is visibly irritated by his appearance and folds her hands in front of her in indignance.

"Espo –" Gone is the teasing tone from Kate's voice, and instead now there's a hint of frustration that drips from her words. They _must_ work together. Unless – Castle feels a twinge of jealousy shoot through him at the thought – unless they knew each other … some other way.

"I'm hurt that you didn't feel you could share things like this with Ryan and me. C'mon Beckett, I thought we were more than colleagues. That we were _friends_," Esposito says, a little too delighted with himself. He pulls up a chair from another table and sits himself down between them. He turns to Castle then and narrows his eyes. "And you, is this why you left my party so early the other night?"

"Wait, how do you two even know each other?" Kate interrupts, clearly annoyed by the entire situation. She's sporting a stormy expression on her face, her eyes glinting dangerously and she's glaring at Esposito like he's currently public enemy number one.

Castle clears his throat, thinking of ways he can diffuse awkwardness that has settled upon the three of them. Esposito is having way too much fun at Kate's expense, and he's suddenly afraid that it means he won't get a chance to see her again if she thinks he's not worth all this trouble.

"Look Kate, Javier here is a good friend of Eddy's, from the store. That's how I know him. He's… y'know, an acquaintance," he ventures. "And hey, Javier I'm only here cause she needed tech advice –"

_Oh._

He's said something wrong. She's glaring at _him_ now, her eyes wide in warning. A sharp heel comes into contact with his foot and he groans in pain. Oh damn, he's definitely done something she doesn't approve of, because Esposito looks so gleeful that the grin he's wearing is threatening to split his face in half.

"Espo," Kate warns, like there's something she's trying to stop him from saying. "Espo, don't."

Esposito doesn't comply.

"_Tech support_, you say?"

"Um ... yes?" Oh god, she's going to kill him. Her hands are wrapped so tightly around her coffee cup as if she's getting ready to throw it at his head. Maybe he should just stay quiet from now on. Something's clearly going on between the two colleagues and he so does not want to get in between the two of them.

"You know, Beckett here just got our resident tech nerd to fix her broken phone."

"What-"

"This morning, in fact."

"Espo…"

"Yeah, so her phone's actually perfect. Wouldn't stop bragging about it this morning in fact. So, I wonder – what exactly she wanted _you_ to fix?"

Castle looks over at Kate, and _oh_ – she's adorable.

Kate's blushing furiously, obviously embarrassed at being caught out in such an obvious lie.

"So you _didn't_ just get outfitted with new apps for the NYPD?" Castle asks Esposito pointedly.

"Um, no."

"Shut up. Both you, just _shut up_," Kate grouses through her teeth, her eyes darting furiously back and forth between the two men.

Castle smirks at her, and leans back in his chair, revelling in this new piece of information. So this how Kate Beckett plays the seduction game. She lures him here under false pretences, makes him feel like an inadequate buffoon, when all this while – all this while she's been equally just as interested in him as he is in her.

Yes, he thinks. Now _this_ game, he can play.

* * *

One more after this, thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Castle's nervous.

He's not sure how she'll react, but he's already there, right in front of her door. He's got flowers in his hand, a box of chocolates in the other and he's so _very_ nervous. She'd ignored all his calls to her cellphone, his texts gone unanswered and he's not even sure how she's going to feel when she finds out he gave Esposito two weeks with his Ferrari in exchange for her address.

He takes a deep breath and knocks on her door.

It takes a while and Castle's about to knock again when he hears the quiet 'snick' of the metal latch being removed from behind the door. It swings open, and he's confronted with a very annoyed looking Kate Beckett.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, hi to you too."

Her expression remains unchanged at his greeting so he presents the flowers and the box of chocolates to her. "I uh, brought you these. To apologise for laughing at you yesterday."

She eyes the flowers warily and then looks back up at him. "Okay, thanks, I forgive you, you can go now."

Castle sighs and inches forward, noting that she doesn't actually try to physically send him away. She just stands there, her door only partially open and her body obstructing his view into the rest of the apartment. She keeps her glare steady on him but he's adamant about standing his ground. He's not leaving until she accepts his apology.

"Okay, come in if you must," she breathes out eventually, and his heart leaps in delight at the small concession. She takes the flowers and the box of chocolates from him and pulls the door further open.

He steps past her into her apartment and marvels at the space, basks in the opportunity to see this particular side of Kate Beckett. There's an earthy tone that emanates throughout her living space and he's completely entranced by it. He notices the trinkets that adorn her bookshelves (oh wow, that's a _lot_ of books), the paintings on the walls, the oversized Buddha head that sits on a table by her front door.

"You're Richard Castle."

Her voice distracts him from further perusal of her place, and he turns to face her. She's behind her kitchen counter, fiddling with the flowers she's managed to find a vase for. Her eyes are fixed on him and he feels compelled to make his way towards her, away from the temptation of further inspecting her bookshelves.

It's only then he notices that she's very dressed down, her hair is loose around her shoulders and she's in what looks to be the most comfortable jumper known to man. She's beautiful, even with the minimal amount of makeup she seems to have on. She's managed to get the box of chocolates open and she pops one in her mouth, still staring at him. He stares at her lips, captivated by the way the tiny chocolate square disappears slowly between them, her tongue darting out to capture the remnants of flavour that lingers.

"Um … Yeah that's me," Castle manages to say before she calls him out for staring at her for too long. Kate picks out another piece and smirks knowingly at him. Oh, she definitely knows what she's doing to him.

"You know, I thought you looked familiar. I didn't … you don't look like your pictures," she admits to him. "On the back of your books, I mean."

Oh, wait – hang on. _What_?

"You've read my books?"

A red hue slowly taints her cheeks and she nods. "My mother did. So I um, I did too, just a few of them. Eventually. You haven't written anything in a while so I didn't recognise you. Not until Espo mentioned your last name at the café, at least."

Castle walks over to her, carefully keeping his distance. He can't tell if she's still annoyed at him but she's speaking to him – teasing him a little even, and if she's revealing little tidbits about herself voluntarily, that's definitely a point in his favour. He approaches the kitchen counter, even more curious about her than ever before and he notices that she's tracking his movements very carefully like she's waiting for him to do something stupid and she'll have a reason to kick him out of her apartment.

"So you're a fan then, Detective Beckett?" He smiles easily at her, turning on his charm. He's standing so close to her, catches a faint whiff of cherries in the air and knows he's going to be obsessed with that scent forever. "My … number one fan?"

She narrows her eyes at him, but then shakes her head and lets out a quiet chuckle. "And what would I be a fan of, exactly? You haven't written anything in years, you're not _that_ famous, hot shot."

Castle's pretends to be offended for a second and leans against her counter, his face dangerously close to hers. "You wound me, Detective. Are you sure you aren't just a _little_ star struck? I mean, you pretended to have phone issues just to see me, you've read my books, _and_ you let me in tonight. "

"Oh, please," Kate rolls her eyes at him, nudges him away from her and walks out of the kitchen. "Espo's already told me about how you begged him for my address. He knows I'd kill him if he told you where I lived without my permission. I told him to give it to you, so letting you in tonight was a given."

Castle stares open-mouthed at her back as she retreats into her living room. Oh, that bastard Esposito played him. He follows her wordlessly, reeling from the revelation. If she told Esposito to give him her address – that meant she wanted him there, didn't it? Does that mean she's not quite as annoyed at him as he expected? That he hasn't completely blown his chance with her?

"Stop thinking so hard, Rick," her voice derails his train of thought. She tosses her phone on the coffee table and settles down on her couch. She pats the space beside her invitingly and he sits down beside her, noticing that she's set out two full wine glasses out on the table.

Once again, this woman has successfully taken out of his comfort zone. He doesn't know where he stands with her and he's unsure of himself – he feels like a teenager all over again. Why does she have this effect on him? What had she planned for tonight? If Espo had told on him to her, and she's had time to prepare for his visit … wow.

She's got an arm draped around the back of the couch and her body is slightly turned towards him, one leg folded on the cushions, the other dangling off the side. He's _inches_ away from her and he needs to say something – the tension in the air is thick and oh my god – that perfume she has on is intoxicating.

"So you knew I was coming? Why didn't you reply any of my texts?" He asks after a moment.

Her corner of her eyes crinkle in delight as the words leave his lips, as if she's been waiting for them all night.

"Oh, I don't know Rick, maybe my phone's broken."

The laughter that escapes him booms through her apartment, the tension between them easing up and soon enough she's laughing along with him. Her head tilts forward, hair framing the sharp contours of her face and she's never looked more elegant to him than she does in that moment. He feels helpless watching her and he does the only thing he can think of in that moment. He brings his hand up to cup her cheek, and it stills her. The laughter dies on her lips and her eyes bore into his, strangely bright and green. The silence between them lasts only a few seconds but it feels like an eternity.

And then she's kissing him.

Her lips smudge gently against his, whispering delicately over his skin and he's lost. It's their first kiss but it feels like they've done this forever. The move in tandem, their breaths intermingling, lips caressing softly. Her tongue paints a slick line against his lips, demanding entrance and he parts them willingly.

Her hands move upwards, along his the top of his arm and she's holding on to his neck as they fall further backwards into the couch. He doesn't know how she's managed to manipulate them so perfectly but he finds himself settled comfortably in her couch, Kate's straddling him deliciously and his hands are full of her, sliding up her back, down along her thighs.

Oh, wow.

He pulls away from her questing lips and starts to trail kisses down the length of her neck, delighting in the satisfied sighs that escape from her. Her fingers curl into the short strands of his hair at the back of his neck and it sends shivers down his spine, arousal peaking to almost unbearable levels. He bands a strong arm around her back, wants to lay her down along the couch and feel her underneath him. He lifts her easily and she lets out a small whine at his movements but he silences her with a fierce kiss. She finally relents, catching on to what he's doing. She lets him lie her down and he looms over her, grinning. She smirks at him, her long legs sliding up outside his to curl around his hips. Oh. She definitely knows what she's doing to him.

He wants to wipe that silly smile off her face so he descends upon her once again and nips at her lips in punishment. Her hands slip under his shirt, fingers coasting along his ribs and suddenly he's heating up, feels like his blood is boiling from the inside and – Oh good, she apparently has the same idea. She creeps both her hands under the front of his shirt and they're lifting, trying to pull the flimsy material off his body.

He eases up on his knees to help her along, pulls the shirt off his head and tosses it –

The loud crash they hear two seconds later nearly gives him a heart attack.

Kate startles under him, her body still trapped under his thighs so it presses against him sinfully and sends another jolt of arousal through him.

"What," he started to say, turning to the direction of the crash. "Oh …"

As it turns out, in his haste to get rid of his shirt, the force of his throw had somehow knocked over the wine glasses that were sitting on the coffee table. Shards of broken glass lies over the top of her table and under it, the pool of dark red wine growing as the seconds ticked by.

Kate groans mournfully, whether if it's at their ruined moment or if it's at the accident he's not sure.

"I'm sorry," he says. He's about to climb off her, wants to clean up the mess he's made so they can salvage what's left of their night. Her fingers curl around his though and when he turns to look at her, instead of seeing some sort of regret or anger at the situation, he only sees a shy smile on her face.

She lifts an eyebrow and turns to the mess, her fingers pointing to something underneath the able.

Oh.

Her phone lies in a puddle of wine, its screen cracked beyond repair.

"Well then," he says as he turns back to look at Kate, fingers still laced tightly with hers. "Guess we're right back where we started."

* * *

Final chapter – thanks for sticking with me, thanks for your reviews, follows and favourites. More from me soon!


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